ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African Navy (SAN) was created after the First World War as an indigenous naval capability for South Africa was deemed necessary. Its roles and responsibilities through the years have depended on both the requirements of the state, and the political realities of the time. Possible future roles in peace support would therefore depend on political requirements as well as the capabilities and composition of the SAN. To date, the SAN has only contributed to peace support by way of the patrols carried out by the SAN Operations Boat Squadron on Lake Tanganyika, and assistance from the Maritime Reaction Squadron in VIP protection duties in Burundi. The seemingly minor nature of this contribution is disconcerting, because the contributions of the SANDF in present (ongoing) peace support are very highly rated by the South African Government. To enhance its visibility, the SAN should preferably play a more visible role in peace support in Africa, and generally in assisting in the maintenance of good order at sea around the African coastline.
The potential contributions to or during peace support activities should therefore not only be seen as the direct support which the SAN can give to land forces carrying out peace support in a specific country, but also the support the SAN can give to maintaining good order in the corresponding, and other African, maritime zones. Potential contributions and roles of the SAN in particular therefore need to be interrogated more comprehensively to foster a deeper understanding of this unexplored field of study within the peace support environment, and that of Africa in particular.
To determine the possible contributions and roles of the SAN, the traditional roles and the doctrines of navies (specifically those involved in peace support operations) were investigated. It was found that the roles emanating from the traditional roles for navies were assimilated into navies. doctrines, roles and tasks. Possible roles and missions for the SAN are reflected in the SAN Maritime Doctrine. Regional expectations have added more roles and missions like the sharing of training, assets, expertise, information, the requirement of maintaining maritime security and the maintenance of good order at sea.
The assets available in the SAN (and the future assets) seem to be adequate to carry out possible peace support activities. However, the potential roles and contributions of the SAN to peace support will be limited by the scope of future budgets and the shortages of skills, equipment and capacity. The foreseen budgets available will not allow participation in activities beyond those being undertaken at present. Unless more funding is received, the potential roles and contributions of the SAN towards peace support activities in Africa will probably not extend beyond some lake patrols and VIP protection.